top of page
Writer's picturePortali

How to leverage big data to improve financial insights and decision-making

Updated: Dec 19, 2023

Data analytics & Big data

Big data refers to large and complex sets of information that traditional methods for processing cannot be applied effectively or efficiently. Big data has become increasingly important over the past decade as more companies have started collecting massive amounts of information from customers, employees, and suppliers through social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter; transaction systems such as point-of-sale terminals at grocery stores; call center phone calls made by customers who need assistance solving problems with their accounts; etc.

Data analytics is the process of analyzing data to gain insights into business operations, customer behavior, and other aspects of your organization. Thus, data analytics can help accountants make better decisions and improve performance.


Data analytics in accounting can be applied to a variety of areas:

  1. Financial reporting - Data analytics can be used to analyze financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. By analyzing these statements, accounting professionals can identify trends and patterns that may indicate areas for improvement or opportunities for growth. For example, they can use data analytics to identify which products or services are generating the most revenue, and which ones are not performing well. This information can be used to adjust pricing strategies or marketing campaigns to improve profitability.

  2. Fraud detection - Data analytics can be used to detect fraudulent transactions before they occur. By analyzing patterns in transactions over time, accounting professionals can identify suspicious activities and take action to prevent fraud. For example, they can use machine learning algorithms to identify unusual patterns of transactions or to flag transactions that are outside the normal range for a particular account.

  3. Tax planning - Data analytics can be used to help companies plan for tax season. By using predictive modeling techniques based on historical tax rates, accounting professionals can identify areas where the company can save on taxes. They can also compare their company's tax rates to industry averages or competitor benchmarks to identify potential areas for improvement. For example, they can use data analytics to identify tax credits or deductions that the company may be eligible for or to analyze the impact of changes in tax laws on the company's financial position.

Data Visualization, Integration, and Automation

There are many different types of data visualization tools, but they all have the same goal: to enable you to see patterns and trends in your financial data so that you can make better decisions based on what's happening in your business. It can come in different ways, including charts and graphs, maps, timelines, and even animations. These tools allow users to explore their data quickly without having to read through long reports or tables full of numbers - they simply need to look at the visual representation instead!

Data integration is the process of combining data from multiple sources into one system. Data integration tools and techniques can help you to combine data from multiple sources into a single platform for analysis and reporting purposes; reduce manual effort by automating repetitive tasks, such as extracting data from various databases or creating new tables in your database system; and improve financial insights and decision-making.


Data Analysis Techniques

There are many types of data analysis techniques. One of the most common is descriptive statistics, which is used to summarize a set of data by describing its properties and characteristics. For example, you may want to know how many customers came into your store last month or what their average purchase amount was. Descriptive statistics can provide this information for you in an easy-to-understand format that's helpful for making decisions about how best to improve sales in future months.


Another type of analysis involves using regression models on historical data sets; this allows analysts to predict future outcomes based on past performance trends and patterns observed in previous years' results. Regression models are useful because they allow companies like yours - which don't have access to detailed information about every single transaction made by every single customer - to still gain valuable insights into customer behavior patterns over time periods ranging anywhere from days up through years!


Conclusion

Data analytics and big data are two of the most important concepts in accounting today. It's essential that you understand how they work together, as well as their role in improving financial insights and decision-making. Big data is any collection of information so large and complex that it becomes difficult for traditional database management tools (such as spreadsheets) or statistical software packages (such as SPSS) to process it effectively. Data analytics refers to the use of statistical methods to analyze large amounts of data in order to make better business decisions. It allows companies to gain insight into their operations, customers, competitors, and other factors that affect their success or failure.

Data analytics


20 views0 comments

コメント


bottom of page